'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

His saying - glorified and exalted is He -:

﴿Indeed, Allah is the One who splits the grain and the seed. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living. That is Allah, so how are you deluded?﴾ ﴿He is the One who splits the dawn and made the night a place of rest, and the sun and the moon a calculation. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.﴾

This is the beginning of a reminder about reflection and contemplation; and the meaning is connected to what came before it; because the intent is: 'Indeed, Allah...'; not these idols. Mujahid and Abu Malik said: This refers to the split that occurs in the grain of wheat and the seed of the date.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The lesson from this saying is specific to some grains and some seeds; and there is no basis for that. Al-Dahhak, Qatadah, Al-Suddi, and others said: This refers to the action of Allah, the Exalted, in splitting all grains from all plants that come from it; and splitting the seed from all trees that come from it.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is the apparent meaning that provides complete reflection; so glorified is the Creator, the All-Knowing.

Al-Dahhak said: 'Splitting' means 'creating'; and Al-Suddi and Abu Malik said: ﴿He brings the living out of the dead﴾; this refers to bringing forth the green plant and the green tree from the dry grain and the dry seed; as if He has made greenery and freshness life; and dryness death; ﴿And brings the dead out of the living﴾; this refers to bringing forth the dry from the plant and the tree.

Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - and others said: Rather, all of this refers to bringing forth the living human from the dead sperm; and bringing forth the dead sperm from the living human; and likewise for all animals; and birds; from eggs; and fish; and all animals.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this saying is more preferable; and those who held the first saying were connected to the correspondence of their interpretation with His saying, the Exalted, ﴿He is the One who splits the grain and the seed﴾; and they are, on this preferred interpretation, two distinct meanings; in which there is consideration; and Al-Hasan said: The meaning is: He brings the believer out of the disbeliever; and the disbeliever out of the believer.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿That is Allah﴾; is a beginning and a statement; containing the reminder; ﴿So how are you deluded?﴾; meaning: you are diverted; and turned away.

And ﴿He is the One who splits the dawn﴾; meaning: He splits it and brings it forth; and 'falaq' means: the dawn; and the majority read: 'He is the One who splits the dawn' with the hamzah broken; and Hasan ibn Abi Hasan, and Isa ibn Umar, and Abu Raja read: 'He is the One who splits the mornings' with the hamzah opened; the plural of 'dawn'; and a group read: 'He is the One who splits the dawn' omitting the tanween from 'splitting' due to the meeting of two silent letters; and they made 'the dawn' accusative with 'splitting'; as if he intended: 'He is the One who splits the dawn' with the tanween of the qaf; and this reading is rare; and Sibawayh only permitted such in poetry; and recited upon it:

I found him not seeking to be appeased ∗∗∗ nor remembering Allah except a little.

And Al-Nahhas narrated from Al-Mubarrid the permissibility of that in speech. Abu Haywah, Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i, and Yahya ibn Wathab read: "Falaqa al-Isbah" with a past tense verb. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read: "Waj'il al-Layl". And Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "Waj'ala al-Layl". This is because "Faliq" means the past, so it is as if the wording is "Falaqa al-Isbah and Waj'ala". This is supported by the accusative of "Wa al-Shamsa wa al-Qamara". The majority read: "Sakanan"; and it was narrated from Ya'qub: "Sakinan". Abu Amr Al-Dani said: This is not correct from him. And its accusative is with an implied verb, if we read: "Waj'il" because it means the present. The implied verb is: "Waj'il al-Layl yaj'aluhu sakanan". This is similar to your saying: "This is giving Zayd yesterday a dirham". And what Abu Ali narrated about this is that it is to be understood from what is in the speech of the meaning: "Mu'ti". Abu Haywah read: "Wa al-Shamsi wa al-Qamari" with a genitive case, in conjunction with the wording of "al-Layl".

And "Husbanan" is the plural of "Hisab" like "Shuhban" is the plural of "Shihab". That is, it runs with a calculation. This is the saying of Ibn Abbas, Al-Suddi, Qatadah, and Mujahid. And Mujahid said - in Sahih Al-Bukhari -: What is meant is: Husbanan like Husban of the mill; it is the wheel and the stick upon which it turns.